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The detection and parameters estimation of linear frequency-modulated (LFM) signal are important for modern radar applications, but they are also challenged by the fact that echo signal is often of low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) due to reasons of long imaging distance and/or limited transmitted power, and the target of small size and/or hidden characteristics. To enhance the SNR, in our previous work, a novel coherently integrated cubic phase function (CICPF) was recently developed for the parameters estimation of the multicomponent LFM signal. In the CICPF, the auto-terms are coherently integrated to enhance the performance in the case of low SNR and also to suppress the cross-terms and spurious peaks. In this paper, as an extension of our previous work, the theoretical performance analyses including several important properties and the fast implementation are provided. Furthermore, the asymptotic mean squared error of a CICPF-based estimator as well as the output SNR of a CICPF-based detector are theoretically derived in closed-forms. From the performance point of view, the proposed CICPF attains the Cramer-Rao bound at low input SNR. The complexity analysis also indicates that the CICPF with the nonuniform fast Fourier transform is computationally efficient without needing the interpolation operation and parameter search. Numerical studies of the CICPF confirm the theoretical analysis and demonstrate superior performance of the proposed approach compared with other state-of-the-art approaches, especially under the low-SNR condition. Finally, the proposed CICPF is applied for the ground moving target imaging in synthetic aperture radar. Results using simulated and experimental data demonstrate that it provides an effective means to obtain well-focused image for ground moving targets. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In synthetic aperture radar (SAR), long integration time may induce range migration and Doppler frequency migration of a received signal, which may degrade the SAR imaging performance of ground moving targets. Most of the conventional algorithms deal with the problems of range migration and Doppler frequency migration based on parameter searching. However, the exhaustive searching of target motion parameters may result in heavy computational burden. To avoid this problem, this paper proposes a new imaging method for ground moving targets without target motion parameter estimation. First, Keystone transform is applied to correct the range walk. Second, range curvature is compensated by the matched filtering function. Third, Doppler frequency migration is compensated via multiplying the data in range- and azimuth-time domains by its reversed conjugate data according to the equal interval sampling of the azimuth slow time, which avoids the searching procedure for target motion parameter estimation. Finally, the signal energy will be well accumulated in the range–Doppler domain, and thus, the moving targets can be efficiently recognized in the focused image. The major advantage of the proposed method is that it can obtain well-focused images of all targets in one processing step without target motion parameter estimation; thus, it is computationally efficient. Both simulated and real data processing results are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging of a ground moving target, long-time coherent integration may effectively improve the imaging quality, whereas the imaging performance may severely degrade due to the range migration and the Doppler frequency migration. In this paper, a novel motion parameter estimation method named second-order Wigner–Ville distribution (SoWVD) transform is proposed, and then, a new SAR imaging method based on the SoWVD for a ground moving target is developed. As a modified Wigner–Ville distribution method, the SoWVD method can estimate the motion parameter without the search procedure, which achieves motion parameter estimation by Fourier transform operations in the 2-D frequency plane with respect to the slow time and the delay time. In addition, it can effectively recognize the cross terms based on multiple symmetrical properties of the peaks in the 2-D frequency domain. Both simulated and real data processing results are presented to validate the proposed imaging method. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Efficient motion parameter estimation is a key challenge for moving-target imaging and localization in the synthetic aperture radar ground moving-target indication system. However, the existing methods suffer from ambiguities, complex realization, or heavy computation load of $O(MN)$. To solve these problems, we propose an efficient Radon transform (RT) and an efficient fractional Fourier transform (FRFT) to estimate the radial velocity and azimuth velocity. By exploiting the geometry information, we model a geometry relationship between the motion parameters and two transform angles of RT or FRFT. The matched motion parameters can be estimated by the geometry relationship of the mismatched results, and the computation complexity is reduced from $O(MN)$ to $O(2N)$ effectively. Additionally, the symmetry property can be used for clutter canceling. Simulated and experimental results demonstrate the validity of the proposed methods. Compared with conventional motion parameter estimation methods, the proposed methods are much more efficient in acquiring accurate estimation results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]